Confident, powerful, and wealthy would be the words that anyone would use to describe the haunting portrait of Laura. The artist created this cold image of Laura through the precise strokes of his brush. The dark eyes seemed to follow the other characters each moves, making it a centerpiece of most scenes. The portrait seems to have a much more powerful effect on others than Laura, herself. For instance, the portrait is what seems to be in between Waldo and McPherson when McPherson is staying in Laura’s apartment, and between McPherson and Laura when she returns from her weekend at her country house. It’s as if the image has the strength to cast a love spell on possible men of interest. As seen in Laura, Jacoby began to fall in love with her …show more content…
The portrait frames the movie and its plot, along with reinforcing many themes seen within it. Obsession in the main theme in this movie and some instances of it start with the painting. McPherson fell in love with the idea of Laura just from the portrait. The portrait was also something Waldo is proud of because he got Laura into art and he knows she wouldn’t be wealthy without his help. The portrait is backing up the selfish ways of the rich. The average person would not have a hand painted image of themselves; only the wealthy would think high enough of themselves to do and have the money for it. The portrait also displays a lack of genuineness and empathy, just as the upper class often did. Laura casts a negative view on the wealthy people in the world. The movie portrays that social group as selfish individuals who are insincere. Not only does the movie end with a shot of the misleading, theme-suggesting portrait, but Laura starts with it as well. That portrait acts as a frame for the movie with such a strong grip on the characters. This hold over the characters is what makes the piece of art so powerful. This painting stands almost as its own person rather than just a picture of Laura. The idea of two different people is seen throughout the film. For example, Waldo seems to try to put the blame on others and act better than being the murderer, but he is actually the murderer. Shelby also acts innocent and naïve throughout the course of the film until the truth comes out about him being present during the murder. Anne is also two-faced in that she acts happy for Shelby and Laura when she wishes that Shelby would marry her. Even though the movie starts and ends with the portrait of Laura, we see her in a different way at the end than we did at the beginning and during the
While Bill is looking through the art book given by Bud, we see Rembrandt’s self-portrait which symbolises the inner strength of humans and the conflicting nature of humans. The purpose of this painting being introduced in the film helps the viewer understand how the Technicolour characters in Pleasantville revolt against the old ideas of order and push forward new ideas of chaos and excitement. A newfound inner strength is found in these people, in other words. The painting itself was painted in the 17th century in the Netherlands, at the heart of the ‘Dutch Golden Age’ – a period where Dutch trade was among the most acclaimed in the world and a time where the country lived without any war. This may have foreshadowed the events to come from the conclusion of the film, where the town finally becomes free of the bounds that restrain the town from passion. In the film, Cezanne’s Still Life with Apples and Oranges is seen when Betty comes into his shop. Bill is trying to replicate the same painting himself, though with his own twist and technique. The painting itself was a major breakthrough during the French Renaissance, as it symbolised the time itself through the use of still objects. The apples and oranges in the painting are different, yet still fruits, and are placed in bowls or placed randomly around the table. Picasso’s Sleeping Woman Before Green Shutters again plays an important role in supporting Ross’s ideas of change in the film. In fact, it appears as a turning point of the film where Betty finally accepts her colour and gives an emotional impact on
... the visitor. Conspicuous consumption is exemplified through this painting and the museum because it was basically all created by overbuying and greed. It can be said that the single very reason anybody sees that painting hung on the wall of a misfit room in a disorganized museum is only because of one man’s extreme case of money flaunting in an age where everything needed to be big and flashy. Also this painting was created smack dab in the middle of the Gilded Age. The painting itself has no direct connection to this era but it makes an argument for why the piece is hung in the museum.
It reveals that Louie is trying hard to become a better person and excel in life.
The sad picture painted of Mrs. Dubose 's house symbolizes the sadness of her life and those her surrounding
Though people can look into color and composition, others can still even look into the source of the art itself. Cole goes deeper, delving into the source of the art, looking in particular into the idea of cultural appropriation and the view a person can give others. Though it is good for people to be exposed to different opinions of a group or an object, sometimes people can find it difficult to tell the difference between the reality and the art itself. Sometimes art can be so powerful that its message stays and impacts its audience to the point where the viewer’s image of the subject of the art changes entirely. Cole brings up an important question about art, however. Art has become some kind of media for spreading awareness and even wisdom at times, but in reality, “there is also the question of what the photograph is for, what role it plays within the economic circulation of images” (973). Cole might even be implying that Nussbaum’s advertisement can sometimes be the point of some media, and that sometimes the different genres of art can just be to make someone with a particular interest happy. One more point that Cole makes is that “[a]rt is always difficult, but it is especially difficult when it comes to telling other people’s stories.” (974) Truthfully, awareness and other like-concepts are difficult to keep going when a person or a group is not directly involved.
Mature Love In Laura Kipnis Against Love, what I believe love to be is uniquely questioned and probed in every manner. Kipnis yanks at every part of a relationship that is, according to her, inevitably bound to fail. Unfortunately I believe she mostly writes about the negatives of marriage and infidelity rather than love. It is troubling to agree with her uncomfortable views on marriage and coupledom becoming a sort of renunciation of personal desires, but I think Kipnis is brave in creating this polemic suggesting the way love has been programmed into us by modern society, as an all encompassing, fantasy type of love, all about one person forever.
Let us first examine Laura. Walter seems to fall in love with Laura at first sight. She is the image of the perfect Victorian woman. She is beautiful, rich, and pliant. She is willing to do whatever it takes to make other people happy. She has a dee...
..., the broader feel of the scene. He wants us to take in the entirety of the painting but have a moment to catch the individual scenes within it, like the couple dancing, the man in the corner rolling his cigar, or the women in the front talking to the man. We do get places where our eyes can rest, but in general your eye takes in the swirl of modern life and pleasure.
Laura unable to survive in the outside world - retreating into their apartment and her glass collection and victrola. There is one specific time when she appears to be progressing when Jim is there and she is feeling comfortable with being around him. This stands out because in all other scenes of the play Laura has never been able to even consider conversation with a "Gentleman Caller."
...ve their sinful lives. It is the ground for strange and wicked displays of man, and even stranger displays of torture by demons, or ones own vices. In essence, this is the main theme of the painting; the dualistic battle between mans virtue and vice.
“The Picture of Dorian Gray” is a novel written by Oscar Wilde. The story takes place in England, where the artist Basil Hallward paints a portrait of the young and beautiful Dorian Gray. During his stay at the artist’s studio, he gets introduced to Lord Henry who later becomes one of the most influential people in his life. Dorian Gray becomes aware of his amazing beauty and youthfulness due to the portrait and wishes that the portrait ages instead of him. His wish comes true, Dorian remains beautiful and youthful while the portrait changes. Lord Henry becomes his best friend and motivates him to live in abundance, to sin and always strive for beauty. After a while, Dorian discovers that his portrait doesn’t only age, but also changes face expression as a result of all his sins and evil deeds. Dorian gets anxious by the fact that the portrait shows his evil soul and is scared that somebody will see it, therefore he hides it. The portrait haunts Dorian although it’s hidden. As Dorian’s sins gets worse, he feels that he can’t handle the pressure anymore and decides to destroy the portrait that shows his true self.
... turning some who can be seen as a blank canvas into someone new. In both ways, Evelyn and Henry Higgins are the artists to their work. Though they might not treat the people they are working with as a human, in the grander idea they have made them better. Adam finally comes to terms with his true personality, while Evelyn exposes what society believes are the norms for a person’s appearance. While, with Eliza, she leaves the life of being a beggar and becoming a duchess, showing how through hard work a person can change, and it becomes hard to return to one’s prior self. Both instances show art playing a large role in shaping their lives. From learning about life through art, people then strive to be on the same level as the art the see, trying to live a grander lifestyle. Showing that to a certain extent art can influence life more than life can influence art.
When he asks what she gives it to him for, she replies, “A—souvenir.” Then she hands it to him, almost as if to show him that he had shattered her unique beauty. This incident changed her in the way that a piece of her innocence that made her so different is now gone. She is still beautiful and fragile like the menagerie, but just as she gives a piece of her collection to Jim, she also gives him a piece of her heart that she would never be able to regain. Laura and her menagerie are both at risk of being crushed when exposed to the uncaring reality of the world.
Scene seven in The Glass Menagerie is critical for the audience to fully understand Laura. In this scene, Laura begins to show a different side...
...at I get from the painting is that the men are getting a mirror image of them self’s, that makes them see what they are afraid of. In turn when I see the painting it allows me to see my fears. I felt that my fears changed with in two days of being in the program. I loved meeting new people and having new teachers.